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Japan Retains Reputation As Most Dependable Carmaker

Oct 25, 2011

Looking for new vehicles? It looks like buying foreign may still be your best bet for long-term reliability.

Recent consumer data collected by Consumer Reports and reported in The New York Times shows that Japanese automakers continue to produce the most reliable passenger vehicles on the market in the eyes of buyers and drivers.

The top 9 most reliable brands listed this year were Scion, Lexus, Acura, Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Infiniti, Subaru and Nissan. Of the 91 Japanese models for which Consumer Reports had sufficient data, 96 percent received ratings of Average or Much Better than Average in predicted reliability.

As for American cars, Ford dropped 10 spots from last year, from its 10th place ranking to No. 20 out of 28 brands. Jeep moved up seven spots to No. 13, displacing Ford as the most reliable domestic brand. Chrysler and Dodge moved up 12 and 3 spots, respectively. A bright spot for G.M. was the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, which received a predicted reliability rating of Much Better Than Average.

Regarded as a whole, Detroit models still had a reliability problem, the editors said. Of the 97 domestic models and versions for which Consumer Reports had sufficient data, just 64 percent rated Average or Much Better Than Average, compared with 96 percent for Japanese models.

The survey results are available to subscribers at the Consumer Reports Web site.